The Maya alphabet

The tour guides yesterday offered us (at a cost of course) to get a necklace made with our names on it, written in the Maya alphabet. A nice idea. But I think just looking at the alphabet is interesting enough. Check out how your name would be spelt:

Mexican food

Mexican food is DELICIOUS.. and perhaps you have a Mexican restaurant near you at home and you've tried burritos and fajitas and think they are very tasty. True! They are. But the food in Mexico is quite different from the more tex-mex styles of our attempts back home. For instance, the tortillas (soft flour wraps) have their own distinctive taste (not sure if it's something i love or hate yet) that forms part of the meal in itself. The guacamole is so fresh and is dripping with flavour. The salsas are freshly chopped and packed with a nice chille punch. The chilles themselves are hotter and feistier than anything we have back home. And the chips - triangular fried hard snacks - are crunchy and delicious. YUM. Check out some snaps from my feast last night.





(this next one is cactus!)

Hola Chihuahua!

Chichén Itzá ruins - Video

Check out the video from my trip to the Chichén Itzá ruins below:

Colours of Mexico...

The thing that I love most about Mexico is the colours... I visited Mexico last year (before this job) and came home with about a billion brightly coloured objects and bits of material (much to the pain of my housemate). Mexicans are not afraid of colour in the way we are in England. It's perfectly acceptable, common and not at all unusual to see people wearing bright pink shawls, intense yellow embroidery and stunning rainbow colours on their bags. Even the buildings are such incredible happy shades that it cannot fail to lift people's spirits. It makes me very happy indeed. Here, have a sample of the shades on offer:

Hello from Mexico!

Charr and Katie

Today I made friends with this lovely lady here called Charr. She was also on her own on the tour, so we chatted over lunch and spent the afternoon wandering the ruins together. Then it started to rain... so we formed extremely fashionable hats from plastic bags. Very nice.

Chichén Itzá ruins

Today I went on a trip to check out the the Chichén Itzá Mayan ruins in Mexico. The Maya civilzation inhabited Mexico many, many moons ago - but there are still Maya people living in the country today, with their own language and culture still thriving. The original Maya people built incredible buildings, had their own calendar, an astounding grasp on astronomy - and generally were centuries ahead of their time and European counterparts. In around 1840, some European/American explorers 'discovered' hundreds of abandoned Mayan buildings across this area of Mexico, that were buried under jungle and foliage.
The Chichén Itzá ruins are some of the most famous of these - having been restored by archiologists and open to the public for viewing. Years ago, people were able to go inside the buildings and see the colourful wall painting (bear in mind, all the buildings were once painted in bright reds and oranges and whites) - but due to human damage and thieving, you are now (still impressively) able to just walk around the structures. I don't really have time here for a full History lesson - but have a read-up. They were - and are - and incredible set of people.

Check out some photos from my trip:

Sombreros!

Big ones, little ones, short ones, tall ones... ARIBA!!!!!!

Cenote - a natural well - Video

Check out my video footage of the cenote (natural well) in Ik Kil below:

Cenote - a natural well

Hello all! Yesterday I went on a long day trip across Mexico to visit some Maya ruins and more. On route to the ruins we were treated to a short stop at this 'cenote' - which is a natural well. The wells are formed when the roofs of caves fall in, and there are around 3000 all across Mexico (some larger than others).
The one we visited was at a place called Ik Kil. The well is an impressive 160ft deep (around 40m). When European/American explorers first arrived in Mexico (in around 1840), they brought divers in to explore the cenotes, and found that the Maya people had thrown precious belongings/carvings into the wells - presumed as offerings to the Gods. In a way - like a giant wishing well!

Isla Mujeres video

Check out this short vid of some of the market treats on offer on Isla Mujeres. Thankin' you.

Video - swimming with dolphins

Today we went on an amazing all-day adventure to Isla Mujeres for some snorkeling fun and the chance to swim with dolphins. The whole trip - leaving from our hotel, heading to the port, boat trip, snorkeling, time on the island, swimming with dolphins, buffet lunch, all drink and boat home - cost about £80, which is pretty snazzy. Plenty of tour operators offer it as a day excursion, and I highly recommend it. Check out our footage below:

This evening's sunset..

Brought to you in a series of photos by me. It was amazing.

Hello from Cancun!

Nice blue wall. Silly photo of myself and Shaffir. Hahaha. Hello from Cancun!

Swingers club

No - not like that!! While on the Isla Mujeres, we found a bar which has swings instead of stools/chairs. Was actually massively impractical - as you just bang your knees into the wooden bar, but fun none the less :) Here are some snaps of winners Kelly, Shaffir and myself enjoy the bar.

Ribbit!

I have no idea why there are giant frog statues on the Isla Mujeres - but who could possibly pass up an opportunity to get a snap with them. God, I look so happy!

Underwater camera

When I was last in London (weeks and weeks ago now), I bought a waterproof bag for my camera so that on the off-chance I went into the sea (very likely), I could take my camera with me. Check out the video a few posts above for the video footage I managed to get, and here are some snaps I took. Camera has survived intact! Hurrah!

Snorkeling in Cancun

Today Shaffir and I went snorkeling (as part of a group) and were given masks, tubes and flippers from the tour company to get started. How very attractive!

The sea in Cancun..

No, this is no trick photography.. I took this snap so I could show you all the actual colour of the water here in Cancun. Totally stunning, with white sand beaches. Wow.

Swimming with dolphins - the photos

Check out these nice snaps taken of Shaffir and myself swimming with dolphins today - was actually totally amazing. They are a lot warmer, larger and more solid that I thought they would be - and extremely friendly and happy looking too! Great times.

CMJ in New York - another video!

So.. a little rewind for a moment. Back in New York on week 21, my pal Tayo also came along for the ride - and helped me get some cool footage of the city to show you all. Tayo also shot a load of his own stuff too - and I now have the video to show you. Check it out:

Cancun market video

Hey all. I made a little video today at Market 28 - the local craft market in Cancun - so you can see what kind of thing is on offer (and friends, give me your Christmas wish lists if it feels appropriate ;) ). Check it out below:

Mexican wrestling

I am kind of obsessed with Mexican wrestling (though have actually never been to a fight and there aren't any happening here). I am more interested in the whole visual iconography of it all. It's so flamboyant and over-the-top and so very, very un-British. Like most things in Mexico, all the costumes are incredible colours and bright and vivid. To support this passion of mine, I bought some wrestling masks today. I have no idea what I am going to do with them when I am home (nothing freaky that's for sure). Perhaps I will have to find some kind of foam mannequin head to display them on. That, or just get my house-mate Alice to wear it for fun! Classy huh?

The view from my window..

Makes it far easier to get up in the morning when you are faced with this view. This snap was taken this afternoon just after a huge thunderstorm. The streets turned to rivers, and umbrellas were pounded with water.. Soon enough however, the skies cleared - and we were left with this amazing scene. Stunning.

Arrrrriba!

Hey all.. I went to a market today with Shaffir and Kelly.. and found this lovely sombrero. Sadly, I think it's for kids. Either that, or I have a massive head. Looks nice and colourful though!

This week's winner..

This week's winner is Shaffir! He and his pal Kelly are with me here in Cancun. Today we went to a local market and tomorrow we are going to a local island to see dolphins! Very excited indeed :)